Congress wants to keep AM radio in your vehicle

More and more auto manufacturers are ditching AM radio in their new cars. But yesterday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and Senate unveiled a new bill that would force automakers to keep AM radio in the vehicles they sell to Americans at no additional charge.

The bill’s sponsors, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ed Markey (D-MA), argue that AM radio is too important of a tool during large-scale emergencies for automakers to abandon it.

• AM radio features several unique characteristics – like lower frequencies and wavelengths – allowing it to pass through solid objects and travel further than FM radio waves.
• As a result, AM radio is currently home to FEMA’s National Public Warning System, which delivers emergency alerts to US residents in times of local and national crisis.

🔀 On the flip side… At least eight major car manufacturers – including Ford, Tesla, BMW, Volkswagen, Mazda, and Volvo – have announced plans to eliminate AM radio from most new vehicle models, especially EVs. The group’s arguments are two-fold:

1. The widespread popularity of internet streaming apps and HD radio delivered via FM bands has made AM radio obsolete.
2. AM radios are fundamentally incompatible with EV motors, since interference created by the electric powertrain gets picked up by the radio and distorts its sound.

📸 Big picture: Though EVs may be trying to kill the AM radio star, the frequency band still puts up numbers. More than 82 million Americans listen to AM radio each month, per the most recent data from Nielsen.